Cost per qualified lead
Cost per qualified lead is ad spend divided by leads that pass clinical and financial screening.
This is the most useful media metric in full arch, because it prices the leads a chair could actually be booked for. It is also the metric most sensitive to how honestly the screen is applied, which means it can only be compared between practices that publish the same qualification definition.
Tightening the screen raises this number and lowers cost per seated arch at the same time. Any agency judged on this figure alone has a direct incentive to loosen the screen, which is why we report it beside cost per seated arch rather than instead of it.
The formula
Divide total ad spend by the number of leads that were contacted, are in radius, are clinical candidates for full arch, and passed the financial screen.
cost per qualified lead = ad spend / qualified leads
What is included and what is excluded
Counts
- Leads meeting all four qualification tests
- Qualified leads that later fail to book or show
- Qualified leads screened for financing before booking
Does not count
- Leads never reached in a two way conversation
- Out of radius leads
- Leads seeking a different treatment
- Leads with no route to funding
A worked example
A practice spends 15,000 dollars and screens its leads honestly.
- 01Ad spend: $15,000
- 02Leads: 200
- 03Contacted at 50 percent: 100
- 04Qualified at 50 percent of contacted: 50
- 05$15,000 / 200 = $75 cost per lead
- 06$15,000 / 50 = $300 cost per qualified lead
Wait for the screen and the same month reads $300 rather than $75. Both numbers are true.
How this differs from
- Cost per lead
That divides by every submission, so it is always the flattering version.
- Qualified
The four qualification tests are what this metric divides by.
- Cost per consult
Cost per consult waits for attendance, so it absorbs the show rate as well as the screen.
These definitions come from our published measurement standard. Read The Arch Standard for the reporting rules they sit inside, or see every term.
Want this measured in your practice? A consult walks through how we track it, if that is useful.
Book a consult